Self-inking hand stamp



May 5, 1959 M. E. BOEKELOO ETAL 2,334, 53

' SELF-INKING HAND STAMP Filed June :5, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheefil gG'T Z P.477'08/VEK5 United States Patent 2,884,858 I snrr-mxmc HAND STAMPMerrill E. Boekeloo and Forest V. Hoffman, San Gabriel, and Steven L.Patterson, Whittier, Califl, assignors to Kwikmrk, Incorporated, ElMonte, Calif., a corporation of California Application June 3, 1957,Serial No. 663,130 1 Claim. (Cl. 101-327) This invention relates toimprovements in hand stamps of the type wherein there is a frame adaptedto be positioned against the article to be stamped and a handle ismovably mounted on the frame to move the die stamp that is mounted onthe frame into engagement with the article that is to be stamped.

Explanatory of the present invention, hand stamps of this generalcharacter have heretofore been devised wherein an ink pad has beenmounted on the top of the frame. The die stamp in such constructions iselevated and swung from its lowermost or stamping position through anarc of 180 in moving into its uppermost position so as to engage the inkpad. Such constructions are disadvantageous in that the letters ornumerals on the die stamp tend to form permanent or semi-permanentimpressions in the ink pad so that when the die stamp is adjusted toexpose different letters or numerals the depressions formed in the inkpad are so deep that portions of the new numerals or letters may not beadequately inked. Another objection to that type of construction is thatink from the ink pad tends to settle from the ink pad onto the type ofthe die stamp and to dry thereon, with the result that the type becomesobjectionably loaded with ink filling such depressions in the type asoccurs in the numerals 4, 6, 8, and 9, and in such letters as p, r, andb.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved hand stampof this general character wherein the die stamp, instead of being swungor rotated relatively to the frame through an arc of 180 is merely swungthrough an arc of approximately 90. With such an arrangement themechanical structure of the hand stamp is simplified and can be madequite rugged in that the overall movement of the die stamp is relativelysmall. This construction also enables the arrangement of a rotatableinking roller on the frame arranged to be traversed or wiped by the diestamp in the course of its movement from its uppermost or inoperativeposition into its lowermost or stamping position. As the movement of thedie stamp brings about or involves a rotation of the inking roller nopermanent or semi-permanent depressions are formed in the inking rollerwhich would detract from subsequent proper inking of the type when typechanges are made. Furthermore, there is no opportunity for ink from theinking roller to run therefrom onto the type while the stamp is not inuse and load the type.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be mademanifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointedout in the appended claim, reference is had to the accompanying drawingsfor an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of the improved hand stamp;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the same, the die stamp beingshown in its uppermost position;

Fig. 3 is a. sectional view illustrating the position of the die stampin the course of acquiring ink from the inking roller;

2,884,858 Patented May 5, 1959 Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, butillustrating the die stamp in its lowermost or stamping position; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially upon the line 55 uponFig. 3.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar referencecharacters designate similar parts throughout, the improved hand stampcomprises a rectangular metal frame having opposed sides 10 and 11connected by an integral top 12 and by a bottom plate 13 in which anaperture 14 is formed through which the die stamp can be projected asillustrated in Fig. 4.

A yoke 15 has opposed sides 16 and 17 slidably mounted for verticalmovement relative to the frame, the sides having arms 18 which extendpartially around the edges of the sides 10 and 11 of the frame. Thisyoke has a handle 19 mounted thereon such as by a ferrule 20 and acompression spring 21 is disposed within the handle and is compressedbetween a stud 22 extending upwardly of the top 12 of the frame, and ascrew plug 23. The compression spring 21 yieldably urges the yoke 15into its uppermost position relatively to the frame.

Within the frame there is disposed a die stamp which may or may notconform to conventional construction. It is shown as having a pair ofside plates 24 and 25 connected to each other by a top 26 and by a dieplate 27. Between the plates 24 and 25 there are independently rotatabledrums having knurled handles 28 and rubber bands 29 are trained over thedrums and over the die plate 27. These rubber bands have the type moldedthereon and as the bands are on drums they are independently rotatable.Each band is individually adjustable so as to press the desired letteror numeral over the face of the die plate 27.

The die stamp is detachably mounted in a holder 30, such as by a bolt31. This holder has a top-32 with which two side arms 33 and 34 areintegral. These side arms provide outwardly open channels 35 and 36 inwhich studs 37 and 38 are slidable and rotatable. The studs are rigidlymounted on the sides 10 and 11 of the frame and project inwardlytherefrom into their respective channels. A pin 40 extends between theside plates 24 and 25 of the die stamp, through the backs of thechannels of the side arms 33 and 34, and through cam slots 41 formed inthe sides 10 and 11 of the frame and through horizontal slots 43 formedin the lower ends of the sides 16 and 17 of the yoke. The ends of thispin may be equipped with anti-friction rollers 44.

As will be observed from an inspection of Figs. 2 and 4, the cam slots41 have their lower ends vertically arranged in the frame. The upperends of these cam slots curve toward the front of the hand stamp andterminate at a location approximately horizontal from the studs 37 and38. The arrangement is such that when the yoke 15 is depressed byforcing handle 19 downwardly relatively to the frame the top edges ofthe horizontal slots 43 are effective on the rollers 44 on the pin 40 tofirst swing the die stamp from the approximately horizontal positionshown in Fig. 2, through the position shown in Fig. 3, and into anapproximately vertical position. Continued downward movement of thehandle 19 moves the die stamp vertically downward relatively to theframe into the stamping position shown in Fig. 4. During these movementsthe studs 37 and 38 merely turn in or slide in their respective channels35 and 36 as is required.

The bottom 13 of the frame has its forward end bent upwardly andequipped with two opposed tangs 45 and 46 between which there ispositioned a U-shaped leaf spring 47, the ends of which are bifurcatedas indicated at 48, to receive the ends of a spindle 49 on which aninking sleeve 50 is disposed. This inking sleeve consists of a sleeve offelt which may or may not have a rubber core indicated at 51, and thefelt is saturated with ink. The ends of the spindle are disposed inL-shaped slots 52 formed in the sides of the frame so as to be rotatabletherein and are held against longitudinal or axial sliding by means ofhandles or caps 53. The leaf spring 47 is thus effective to urge eachend of the spindle 49 independently toward the rear end of its L-shapedslot 52, but either end of the spindle may recede from the end of theslot 52 independently of the other as may be occasioned by the movementsof the die stamp. In other words, if only two letters or numerals areused on two of the bands 29 at one side of the die stamp somewhat as isillustrated on Fig. 5, then one end of the inking roller can be urgedforwardly of the extreme end of its L-shaped slot 52 without necessarilyinvolving a movement of the other end of the spindle 49. If type on allbars is being employed, then both ends of the spindle 49 may be causedto recede as the die stamp moves through the position shown in Fig. 3.

The bottom of the frame is preferably provided with rubber pads 54having shouldered stems 55 which are drawn through apertures in thebottom plate.

The operation of the above-described construction is substantially asfollows:

When the die stamp is in the position shown in Fig. 2 and the handle 19is depressed the top edges of the horizontal slots 43 cause the pin 40to move downwardly in the cam slots 41 swinging the die stamp from theposition shown in Fig. 2, through the position shown in Fig. 3, and intothe position shown in Fig. 4. As the die stamp moves through theposition shown in Fig. 3 it engages and has ink transferred from theinking roll or felt 50 to the exposed type. This movement involves arotation of the inking roll by turning the spindle 49 in the L-shapedslots 52. The ink is thus transferred by the type from the inking rollto the article that is to be stamper. When the handle 19 is released thecompression spring 21 is effective to lift .the yoke relative to theframe and the die stamp is returned from the position shown in Fig. 4through the position shown in Fig. 3, to the position shown in Fig. 2.

It will be noted that in the position shown in Fig. 2 that the inkingroll is not engaged so that no permanent or semi-permanent depressionswill be forced therein by the type. It will also be observed that thedie stamp merely swings through a yoke of approximately 90 so thatmovements of the die stamp are relatively small.

These small movements of the die stamp contribute towards a sturdierconstruction, a smoother operation, and a reduction of wear on allmoving parts.

In order to hold the die stamp in a vertical position within the contourof the frame, a pivoted bail 56 is mounted on the frame and can be swungover the top of the yoke 15 to hold the yoke in a partially depressedcondition against the action of the compression spring 21 wherein thedie stamp is intermediate the position shown in Fig. 3, and the positionshown in Fig. 4. That is, the die stamp is arranged vertically in theframe but is not in its lowermost position as illustrated in Fig. 4. Thepin 40 in this position is disposed in the top of the vertical portionsof the cam slots 41. With such an arrangement the hand stamp is confinedin a relatively small volume to facilitate shipment or storage.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theappended claim.

We claim:

A hand stamp comprising a frame, a yoke slidably mounted thereon forvertical movement relatively thereto, spring means urging the yoke intoits uppermost position relatively to the frame, a die stamp disposedwithin the frame having channels on its sides, studs on the frameextending into the channels forming a slidable and rotatable connectionbetween the frame and the die stamp, pin means on the die stampextending through cam slots in the frame and into slots in the yokewhereby when the yoke is depressed relative to the frame the die stampwill be caused to swing into a vertical position relative to the frameand then descend vertically relative to the frame, and an inking rollerrotatably mounted upon the frame arranged to be traversed by the diestamp in the course of its swinging movement relative to the frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 16,608Ramsay Feb. 10, 1857 405,704 Hill June 25, 1889 533,621 Thompson Feb. 5,1895 669,137 Dobhel Mar. 5, 1901 2,252,649 Smallman Aug. 12, 1941

